Discovering an urban winery

Once you start conversing with 68-year-old Tullio Masoni, you discover that he is far from your average individual, let alone run-of-themill winemaker. His wry smile, brilliant manner of expressing himself, and evident self-confidence–which likely stems from having invented a unique product–make him an extraordinary person to engage with.

Masoni’s wine adventure started around 15 years ago, and the key ingredients of his special blend are “imagination” and “perseverance.”

I actually inherited a vineyard from my father in the countryside outside of Reggio Emilia. At a certain point, however, I realized that it had not been profitable at all, so I decided to sell it. But then, some 20 years later, I regretted it. So, I started to look for a new opportunity. Besides that, I wanted to show that it’s actually possible to make an excellent product anywhere, even on a terrace, on top of a building, in the middle of a town, at least if you are a dreamer like myself.
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We find ourselves at Via Mari 10—an address that has lent its name to Masoni’s wine—in the heart of Reggio Emilia. The terrace on the fourth floor of the building offers enchanting views of brown, grey, and ochre-colored rooftops. The main attraction on this rooftop, however, is a tiny 20-square meter vineyard from which Masoni produces around 30 bottles each season, with each bottle commanding a price of 5,000 euros.

My wine is like a stateless person. Its soil comes from all over Italy. Various friends have given me soil from the Vesuvius area, from Etna, from Sardinia, and from Tuscany. So, my wine doesn’t have a specific terroir, but still, it’s very Italian because various regions are part of its soul.

At a certain point in his life, after having worked many years as a financial broker, Tullio sought a new challenge and decided to embark on this exciting wine adventure.

When I first told people about my idea, and when I started putting it into action, people looked at me with disbelief. It was like they were talking to the local nutcase.

But not everyone was skeptical. A friend, who happened to be the owner of a local restaurant, not only encouraged Masoni to “go for it,” he also provided a helping hand. Masoni then proceeded to purchase wine equipment, specifically to remove acidity in Sangiovese grapes. As his wine project grew more ambitious, he also started to focus seriously on enhancing the quality of his wine. “I began to work with a professional oenologist. She has a very poetic approach towards the end product. She is strictly teetotal, which means that she manages to maintain an uncontaminated palate,” he explains.
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Masoni is immensely sociable and takes pleasure in discussing his unique wine. He has a glint in his eye when entertaining, and he especially enjoys injecting the occasional provocative remark into a conversation about the intersecting worlds of art and wine: “Just like Duchamp brought the lavatory into art, I have brought the countryside into the city. Many of Italy’s most important wines are made by noble families. But ViaMari10 is an example of the fact that you don’t have to be nobility to be able to make a good wine,” he says with a big smile.

One of the most striking aspects of ViaMari10 is, of course, its extravagant price. Is this another of Masoni’s provocations or a reflection of the wine’s uncompromising quality? Masoni explains:

At the beginning of my adventure, I actually gave my wine away … to those who already had everything, or as a sort of good luck talisman. Then I decided to sell at a normal price. But then the demand far outstripped what I was able to produce.
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The price increased over time due to a series of unrelated events. The Italian national broadcaster, RAI-TV, featured ViaMari10 in two programs, significantly boosting its visibility. Masoni then entered into an agreement with a wellknown local art gallery, Bonioni Arte, which began selling his wine as a form of art. He then established contact with a Frenchman specializing in rare wines, who subsequently submitted his wine to the French oenologist Edwige Régnier for appraisal. She loved ViaMari10. Little by little, the price crept up to 5,000 euros per bottle.

But who are the big spenders buying Tullio’s wine? He explains:

I recently sold three bottles of three different vintages to a Greek professional who lives in Dubai. At at the same time, I donated a bottle to the Dallas Folds of Honor Athletic Club. They had asked me for a bottle to be auctioned in last November’s Grand Gala with the participation of all the local authorities and the Dallas Cowboys football team. The profits will go to wounded military personnel and the families of those killed in conflicts. I have also donated another bottle to the Lions Club International of Bologna, which will auction it to help people in need. I sent a bottle to an Irish boy who wrote me a very touching letter. After a very serious illness that cost him his job, he managed to open a wine bar with some friends’ help and wanted a bottle of ViaMari10 to promote his new business. He humbly asked me if he could pay me in installments of 100 euros a week. I didn’t think about it for a second and sent him a free bottle. It’s true that the price is high, but, as strange as it may sound, this wine is not made to create profit.

Each year’s production exhibits slight variations, largely influenced by the climate. But having such a small vineyard actually makes Masoni’s intervention easier, particularly in years of extreme heat. “I just go around the vineyard with my watering can,” he says, smiling.
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Masoni is especially fond of the 2018 vintage because it boasts a special label drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli, a comic book artist for Marvel. “It’s quite hard for me to sell the only bottle that I still have left. I’ll have to see if a good offer makes me give in sooner or later.”

Tullio Masoni tells people not to drink his wine. He explains:

The secret of life is that things have to be in suspension, they are not supposed ever to arrive at their destination because once they arrive, they are consumed, and then they lose their value. If my wine remains in its bottle on a shelf in the living room, it will immediately become a talking point. In this way, it maintains its value; it stays alive.

Cover photo: Tullio Masoni in his rooftop vineyard located at Via Mari 10, Reggio Emilia
Images provided by Tullio Masoni